Social media has changed the way we interact with each other whether it’s between family, friends, or even business colleagues. With so many people spending much of their time on social media, businesses have taken notice and have also joined in so they can be present where their market is. With this, social selling has also increased in popularity with many companies incorporating this strategy in their sales. Chances are you might have already started with the basics of social selling. If your brand has a social media page on any social media network, you’re already through the first step.

In this article we’ll get into why you should leverage social media for small businesses and learn how to sell on social media.

What Is Social Selling?

Social selling is the practice of using a social media to connect with prospects, develop a relationship with them, and engage with potential leads. It’s a lead-generation technique where salespeople can directly interact with their prospects. Through this, salespeople can provide value to prospects by answering open-ended questions, responding to comments, and sharing content.

Why Should You Utilize Social Selling?

Everyone is on social media

There are several reasons why you should utilize social selling with the foremost reason being that almost everyone is on social media today. Many look to social media sites for brand research, looking up the brands and products they want to buy while also looking at testimonials posted by other users as well as reviews made by content creators.

Even the B2B market is already engaging this trend with research showing 91% of B2B buyers now active on social and 75% of B2B buyers significantly influenced by social media according to research by IDC. Interestingly, a study by Google and Millward Brown Digital found that 46% of decision makers are now aged between 18 and 34 years old, which is also the largest social media user demographic.

Building Relationships

Another big reason why you should start social selling is that it helps your sales team build real relationships. With users already active and engaging in conversations, this creates an opportunity for your sales team to connect with these potential customers and offer advice and help, creating value before asking for value. Using social listening tools takes it a step further by letting you identify leads who are already talking about your product/brand, your competitors, or your industry.

Gathering Information

Social media has become a place for people to share their good experiences as well as air their grievances. There may be different tools and methods that you can employ, but essentially, you want to keep your eye out for the right conversations so you can learn much more about your market. Look at what they’re saying, and you can find out what they like about a product/service, what they dislike about it, and what their priorities and needs are. Armed with this information, you can stay one step ahead and constantly improve your product or service that not only helps you gain new customers, but also helps keep your current ones coming back.

Where To Start With Social Selling

It all begins with choosing the right social media platform. Each social media platform is used differently and choosing the right one depends on who your target audience is and what your approach will be.

Twitter and Instagram are good for interacting with customers since they offer tools for responding to customer queries. The casual nature of these virtual spaces means communication comes naturally so it’s a great place to build relationships.

LinkedIn on the other hand is a more formal space, ideal for B2B companies looking to identify and reach business decision makers. You can connect with businesses directly and try to build a professional relationship.

Wherever you choose to start, there are three things to always keep in mind:

• Build credibility by providing value to users
• Listen strategically and build relationships with your target market
• Keep it real: take the time to personalize your messaging and form connections using genuine conversations

Take Your Business To New Heights

Social selling is just one of many different strategies that you can employ in the everchanging business landscape. Whether it’s sales, marketing, or product development, you can always improve the way you do things by learning more through coaching for small business. Let Shawn Tiberio, a veteran consultant with years of experience guide you through the ins-and-outs of how to sell on social media and other best practices to help take your company to the top.